All-new Qvist hub spins up double engagement with proven ratchet durability
claim faster initial engagement, in the real world they still rely on pawl flex or sprag clutch rotation that results in similar speed like this new Qvist design, but with a lot more tiny parts inside that could fail.The thing is, these hubs will not be cheap. There’s a lot of complex machining to make it all work, including on the freehub body that extends deeper than normal into the hubshell, and on which the ratchet rings slide back and forth.
But the unique design does mean that the main outer driveside bearing at the shell is a large diameter, and it is actually further outboard than almost any other hub. All of the driveside bearings are in fact, pressed onto the freehub body – the two smaller inner & outer bearings on the 17mm axle and the larger one that slides into the hub with the freehub.
The concept is there, it’s functional, and reliable , but Qvist are still in the later testing stages at the moment. German manufacturing capability has been sorted out, as has assembly at the HQ in Dresden. They even have the 7 standard anodized hubshell colors picked: black, silver, champagne, green, blue, red & dark gray.